Understanding Post Traumatic Stress among Mental Health Caregivers

Lisa Franchi March 14, 2013

Have you ever been involved in or witnessed an accident, a crime, or a hospital emergency? If yes, such event must have made you freak out. While this reaction is normal, it often causes a deep emotional injury that lasts for a long time. In psychology, it’s called post traumatic stress disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) refers to a wide range of symptoms a person may develop after experiencing a traumatic event. While it is true that we often get scared watching horror or thriller movies, seeing wild animals, and the like, PTSD occurs when we are exposed to a terrifying, traumatising event that is beyond our normal human experience. Just imagine a mother seeing her son grasps for breath after a road accident. Just the sound of her son’s voice can intensify the anxiety, stress and panicking that she feels. These negative emotions may persist even after knowing that his son has survived. If the symptoms continue for at least a month, she may be diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. In most cases, PTSD is a delayed response. But patients go through a serious emotional suffering that negatively affects their quality of life.

Caregivers may suffer from PTSD too

PTSD can be contagious – its symptoms may also manifest in the people around the patient, especially those in charge of the patients’ well-being. According to experts, there are two major types of stress response: primary and secondary. The primary response is the one experienced by the person who has been directly exposed to the stressful event. The secondary response is the one felt by the caregiver or the patient’s guardian, for instance, the spouse of a former military man who suffered from trauma and PTSD. The caregiver tends to absorb the stress by listening to the repeated stories of the patient, or by being the ‘shock absorber’.

And just like those who have been directly exposed to a traumatising event, caregivers usually experience nightmares and fears reflecting those that happened to the patients, anxiety issues, emotional breakdown, even depression.

Are you at risk of PTSD?

There are certain factors that increase the chance of a person developing this debilitating condition. These include having a personal history of trauma or psychiatric illness, caring for a person who is emotionally or physically abusive, has unpredictable behaviour or has a very changed personality, being required to perform complex treatments that are beyond his or her ability or training, and refusal of the patient to participate in or receive treatments.

Just like people with PTSD, those who provide direct care and guidance to patients should be given adequate therapies to help them deal with the devastating effects of post traumatic stress. Early recognition of symptoms is critical to the prevention and management of PTSD.

Dear Readers,

Do you agree that caregivers must also be encouraged to undergo a programme for managing post traumatic stress? What natural therapies can you suggest to individuals who have this disorder?

Share your comments below!